Thermostatic gas-valve-operating mechanism.



J. ELLIS.

THEEMOSTATIG GAS VALVE OPERATING MEGHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED 11211.25, 1913. 1,093,771 Patented Apr. 21, 1914 WETN ESSES f sTAtrss l11ersn'r OFFICE.

JoHN'Ei'LLIs, or VPITTssamm,-gPsNNsYLvAnur; 'AssIsNoR 'ro BELER WATER. HEATER COMPANY, "os'vrrrrssURGH, '-PENNSYLvaNIaQ-a',conroRArIoN lor PENNSYL- vaina.-

' rHErtiuosrAirIc'csssvALvxi-orsnarrnc.MECHANISM heeel-7,711:

To all 'whom it may concern: j

Be it known that I, 'JOHN ELLIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburgh,

larly to the class in-which hot water is Vmain-" tained in storage and vsupplied therefrom at agiven temperature.

The invention has for itsobject, to bring about a quick. action of the vfuel supply valve so that the full volume of gasv may be supplied to the burner, practicallyinstantaneously, lrather than gradually supplied thereto,thus effecting a more' rapid heating of the-.waterto thc desired temperature and more economical use of fuel, las well as preventing the usual or frequent-occurring "backiiash off gas -into the mixer of the burner when the gas is first fed to the burner at. n. very low volume and `gradually increased` particularly when the fuel gas employed. is that known as artificial.

Broadly, the invention consists in interposing between the thermostat and gas valve,

yieldable means, adapted-when the temperature of the waterfallsv below a predetermined degrec.. to suddenly unseat the gas valve to permit, practically, the full volume of gas being at once supplied to the burner.

The present invention is capable of being embodied in numerous structures for automatically opening the gas valve thermostatically, the general features of construction and operation of thathere shown; to.

which the improvement is applied, being similar in many respects to thatshown in U. S. Patent No. 1,049,829, granted to me January 13th, 1913, for gas controlling mechanism for water heaters. l

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of the mechanism, partly in section. Fig. 2 is a plan of a portion thereof. Fig.`3 is a side elevation of that shown in Fig.2. Figt is a side elevation of a detail portion ofthe mechanism, partly in section. Fig. 5 is a; side elevation of a storage system, showing'the application of the mechanismjthereto. i

Thefstructurej illustrated, comprises a speeiacation of Lettersratent; Application and A'prn' l25, 191s. serial No. 763,566.

Patented Apr. 2'1, 1914.

chamber .formed of the two connected sections. 1 and 2, included in t-he gas supply line 3.` The upper section 1 of said chamber, jcommunicates with the lowc: section by 'way of an opening Il formed through the partition 5 therebetween, which opening is controlled by a disk valve 6 having a downwardly extended stem 7 and guides 8 formed upon the under side thereof, and a short stem 9 upon the upper side and projects into an opening 9 in the cap 10, a spiral spring 1,1 being arrangedjin 4said opening to engage the stem ofand insure' seating of the valve Iwhen necessary. The lower section 2 of said chamber, is provided at its rear with a large screw 12l and a small screw 13, and at its forward'l portion with-a boss into which is threadably connected a thermostat tube 14 having a. rod 15 of porcelain, or other material of very low expansive-and contrastive qualities, fixed vat the forward end 14 thereof and projecting" atI itsfree end into the chamber .lVithinthe chamber section 2, is loosely arranged a support 16 having two pairs of lugs 17 and 18, respectively, formed thereon, said'support; engaging and ada ted to be adjusted in a direction toward the t termostat'rod by the said screws 12 and 13. This tween its lugs 18, a primary lever 19, which lever is alsol pivotally connected to the end of a thrust pin 20 engaged at its opposite flanged end 20 by the thermostat rod, and has further connected thereto, between its lugs 17, a secondarylever 21 in engagement v`with the primary lever and adapted to communicate motionlto the-gas valve. In this instance, the improvement is applied to the secondary lever, and consists in forming said'lever with' a boss 22st its free end within-.which is arranged a spiral spring 23 and a tension adj ustingv screw 24. Pivotally secured at one of its ends upon this secondary lever is aA member 25, the free end of which-is engaged at its upper side by the stem 7 ofthe valve and at its under side by the spiral spring 23, a set-screw 26 passing through said pivoted member into the secondary lever for the purpose of adjusting the distance of depression between them. i

In Fig. 5 the above described gas-valve controlling mechanism is shown connected up to theburner of a suitable heater 27, by

the gas line 3,.and in the return circulation connections 28 of a suitable boiler or storage support has lpivotally. secured thereto, be-

lOl

drawlng tank 29, for the purpose of illustrating one of its several applications to heaters.

In practice, the spring 23 is adjusted, by the screw 24, to such tension that at the instant the pivoted member is depressed to a predetermined distance, as for instance to almost parallel relation with the secondary lever, that the gas pressure acting upon the upper surface of the gas valve, when said valve is fully seated, and that of the spring will be sufficient to overcome said pressure. y

Briefly, the operation 'is as follows: The gas being turned on at the cock 30, and ignited at the burner by the usual pilot light, the tube 14 extending into the circulation line '28, becomes gradually heated from the rising temperature of the water,

the rod l5 therewith, thus reducing `the pressure exerted thereby upon the pin 2O and levers 19 and 21, respectively, said lever 21 descending and permitting the gas valve to be seated and cut off the supply of gas to the burner.V As'soon as the water falls below a redetermined temperature the thermostat tulIde begins to contract, gradually forcing the rod 15 toward the chamber and exerting pressure upon the pin 20, which pressure is communicated t'o' the primary and secondary levers 19 and 21, causing the latter 'lever to be elevated and, ordinarily,

raise the gas valve gradually from its seat y the chamber overcomes the then slight presto-again supply gas to the burner to reheat the water to the desired temperature.

With the present improvement, instead of .the gas valve being gradually raised from its seat, as the tube 14 contracts, the pivoted member 25 of the secondary vlever will be depressed as said secondary lever is elevated until both the pivoted member and lever meet at that point, at which time the tension of the spring 23'will have overcome the pressure ofthe gas exerted upon the valve, resulting in the sudden expansion of the spring 23 and elevation of the valve, thus permittin the full volumeof gas to be supplied to t e burner of the heater and thereby quickly restore thewater to thedesired temperature. As the thermostat tube expands and the valve descends to a point close to its seat, the accumulating gas pressure in for opening the gas valve by the action of a thermostat, and as the lever is capable of being changed in form, and as the location and application of the improvement may also be changed in such mechanisms, I do not wish to limit myself to what is here shown and described and therefore consider such changes to be within the limits of the following claims. n

lVhat I claim, is:

1. The combination of a thermostat, a lever operated thereby, a valve, a member engaging said valve and pivotally mounted to said thermostat-operated lever, and a spring interposed between said member and lever.

2. The combination of a thermostat, a

vlever operated thereby, a valve, a member engaging said valve and pivotally mounted to said thermostat-operated lever,l a spring interposed between said member and lever, and'means to regulate the tension of said spring. f

3. The combination of a thermostat, a lever operated thereby, a valve, a member engaging .said valve and pivotally mounted to said thermostat-operated lever, al spring interposed between saidmember and lever, and means to limit the movement of' said pivoted member. l

4. The combination of a thermostat, a lever' operated thereby, a valve, a member engaging said valve and pivotall'y mounted `to said thermostat-operated lever, a spring interposed between said member and lever, means to regulate the tension of said spring,

and means to limitvthe movement of said JOHN ELLIS.

Witnesses DAVID B. OAKS,

fR. S. HARRISON. 

